The source in the package you are discussing is incomplete. There is also a 'protocol translator' module which is only available as a pre-compiled binary, there is no source for it. Hence, this is 'free' as in beer, but decidedly NOT free as in speech.
I would suggest that you try to find a scanner which meets your needs but has full source code available. This is the only means to protect your investment in the long term. allan On Feb 13, 2008 12:25 PM, Andrew <andrew2006 at flight.us> wrote: > >Andrew <andrew2006 at flight.us> writes: > > > >> The Epson 4490 is not listed on > >http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-EPSON > > > >Check > > > > http://sane.alioth.debian.org/lists/sane-backends-external.html#S-EPKOWA > > > >instead. It is supported, but on i386 machines only as it requires a > >non-free plugin. > > > >> Surfing around i see people have asked about support, there are > >> cases where it does NOT work with out-of-the-box distribs/kooka, but > >> i am not seeing definitive answers of whether it does or doesn't > > > >Last time I looked at kooka was during a debugging session trying to > >find out why it insisted on blowing up regardless of what you did. > >Hope things have changed for the better since then. > > Sorry, i don't have much linux scanning experience; i used kooka with an old > scsi HP scanner with no problems and was just assuming that kooka is the > scanning swiss-army knife for the entire linux community. > > (Are SCSI scanners better supported than USB/firewire ones?) > > >> Does anyone here know if this model is supported? > > > >Yes, provided you use it on an i386 machine and don't mind using > >non-free software. Packages are available at: > > > > http://www.avasys.jp/english/linux_e/dl_scan.html > > thank you, this looks promising. Perhaps the term "non-free software" needs > some elaboration, though. > > The above site has downloadable binaries and source(!) > And, outside of computer jargon, "non-free" would almost certainly mean > "something acquired only through a purchase". Or did I misunderstand the > agreement? There are no trial periods or some such, or would i have to pay > for the software you referred me to? > > Plus, the "EPSON AVASYS PUBLIC LICENSE" (linked from the above) seems to > overlap with GPL on certain rights and "freedoms". And the software is > subject to it, to the GPL itself, and other licenses allowing redistribution, > etc. > > >You most likely want the packages for gcc-3.4 or later. > > I think so. To home-compile it, i'd probably need to use the gcc-compat 3.4 > (?) > > > > >If you need Debian packages, use: > > > > alien --scripts --keep-version <rpm-package> > > > >for the smoothest ride. > > I would use it with Fedora Core 6 and also Fedora 8. > > The provided Fedora binaries only go up to FC version 6. I hope to be able to > compile the source for Fedora 8 (and higher) > > >If you are using a distribution that's not officially supported by my > >employer you may need to straighten out a kink or two, but in general > >our iscan packages work quite well across multiple distributions. > > great. Sorry to nag about kooka - any probability it might work with Kooka? > > i haven't bought the scanner yet; this is pre-purchase research, so i can't > test it yet (i'll try to compile your driver, however, and report results > here as soon as i can) > > > -- > sane-devel mailing list: sane-devel at lists.alioth.debian.org > http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/sane-devel > Unsubscribe: Send mail with subject "unsubscribe your_password" > to sane-devel-request at lists.alioth.debian.org > -- "The truth is an offense, but not a sin"
